Japanese Occupation locomotives

During the Japanese occupation of Malaya from 1942 to 1945 a number of locomotives from other countries in the area were taken to Malaya, perhaps to replace those which had been taken to Thailand. Many of these were 3' 6" gauge and would have had to be converted to metre gauge. These included 15 class C30 2-6-2T and 10 class C52 4-6-0 from Sumatra, up to 17 class C58 2-6-2 from Japan and 2 class F 0-6-0, 2 class J 4-6-0, 2 class K 4-6-0 and 1 class Ks 4-6-0 from Burma. This information was extracted from the Mike Page lists - his entry for C58 is followed by "(17)" - I have taken this as a quantity but I could be wrong. Alan Elyard Brown tells me there were 12 C58s on the official list and he recorded a further 4, making 16 in all. He is trying to find details to pass on to me, along with details of the 7 Burma locos. He also saw 7 of these locomotives stored in a siding near Bukit Panjang, Singapore, in 1947, shortly before they were scrapped. Unfortunately he did not have a camera but he did record the details, he will try to find them. The C58s could be the 2-6-2 originally allocated class N, but this is only my theory. Lt/Col Lennox McEwan tells me he saw many unusual locomotives in Malaya during the war and he may have a few photographs. In the table below I have listed details known to me. For the Burmese locomotives I have listed the various manufacturers for the classes but I have no details of the actual locomotives at present. Most of these locomotives simply vanished after the war but a couple of C30s turned up in Cambodia although I do not know their original identities.

As a 2008 update I now have identities for 17 C58 class, 6 of the Burma locomotives, 18 Indonesian class C30 and 11 Indonesian class C52 from data supplied mainly by Alan Rough and Alan Pike who were with the Royal Engineers railway operating unit immediately after the British return. This data was in documents held by the Stephenson Locomotive Society library and I have to thank Patrick Smith for correlating the details. The majority of the Indonesian and Burmese locomotives were taken to Bukit Panjang and scrapped there in 1947, but the C52s were all returned to Java in 1949. 2024 update from a variety of sources, the Japanese records show that 25 class C58 2-6-2 were modified to narrow gauge and sent to S. E. Asia, the source quoted 3' 6" but the known ones were all metre gauge. With the end of the war 4 were retained by RSR while the reminder were presumably written off as there is no record of them being returned. Likewise , although the Indonesian C 52 class was to be returned to Java there is no record of their return. It is very likely that most were deemed beyond economical repair and cut up in 1947, though a handful of Indonesian locos were sent to Vietnam and Cambodia. A number of photographs have been found showing various occupation locomotives but few details and these are being added.

Manufacturer024 update	Works	Year	Number	Notes
Hohenzollern	4684	1929	C301
	4686		C303
	4687		C304	at Bukit Panjang
	4692		C306
	4693		C307	derelict
	4694		C308	photo exists
	4695		C309	at Bukit Panjang
	4696		C3010
	4697		C3011	derelict
	4698		C3012	at Bukit Panjang
Borsig	13953	1930	C3013
	13954		C3014
	13955		C3015
	13956		C3016	derelict in Singapore; photo exists
	13957		C3017	at Bukit Panjang
	13958		C3018	derelict in Singapore
	13959		C3019
	13961		C3021
Werkspoor	434	1918	C521	at Bukit Panjang, to Vietnam, later Cambodia as 230-001
	435	1918	C522	Became RSR 751
	436	1918	C523	Photo exists Became RSR 752
	437	1919	C524	in steam at Prai, photo exists, to Java 1949
	438	1919	C525	to Java 1949
Henschel	14851	1921	C527	at Bukit Panjang, to Java 1949
	14852		C528	derelict, to Java 1949
	14853		C529	derelict, being cannibalised, photo exists, to Java 1949
Werkspoor	511	1922	C5211	to Java 1949
	512	1922	C5212	Became RSR 753
	513	1922	C5213	tender from C5214, to Java 1949
	514	1922	C5214	at Bukit Panjang, to Java 1949
	515	1922	C5215	Became RSR 754
Beyer Peacock	6114	1922	C5216	Became RSR 755
	6115	1922	C5217	Became RSR 756
	6116	1922	C5218	derelict at Prai, to Java 1949
	6117	1922	C5219	Became RSR 757
	6118	1922	C5220	derelict at Prai, to Java 1949
Kawasaki			C5814	17 locomotives recorded out of 25 sent to SE Asia
	2001		C5840
			C5842
			C5844
			C5846
			C5851
			C5852	became RSR 761
			C5854	became RSR 762
			C5855	photo exists
			C5873
	2041		C5891	at Sentul under repair, later active around KL in 1946
			C58113
			C58130	became RSR 763
			C58131	at KL severely damaged
			C58133	destroyed by allied bombing at Sentul
			C58136	became RSR 764
			C58145	active around KL in 1946
Neilson	5854	1901	189	Burma F class 0-6-0
Dubs	4297	1902	231	Burma F class 0-6-0
NB	16829	1905	262	Burma J class 4-6-0
NB	16832	1905	265	Burma J class 4-6-0 Photograph exists
NW	768	1906	268	Burma K class 4-6-0
NB/NW/RS				2 locomotives
NW	1336	1921	399	Burma Ks class 4-6-0

Most of the following pictures were taken by allied soldiers who discovered them after recapturing Singapore from the Japanese but unfortunately the photographers names have not been disclosed.

Above: Indonesian C307 at Bukit Panjang, Singapore, c1947. It was formerly SS 1707.

Below: Indonesian C524 at Bukit Panjang, Singapore, c1947. It was formerly NIS 384.

Above: 265 NBL 16832/1905 Burma Railways Class J 4-6-0 reputedly at Bukit Panjang in 1945 with what looks like an Indonesian C30 and another Burmese loco behind it, out of use and awaiting scrapping.

Below: ISR F class F121, the only picture I have found of an F class 0-6-0, this one was Neilson 4696/1894 and 2 of these were found in Singapore after the war, being Burma Railways F189 and F231.

This picture is from the Hughes collection courtesy of the Continental Railway Circle who published it. This collection is now held by the National Railway Museum.

Unclassified	A & B classes	A² class	C¹ class
erdana">Burma E and O	C² class	D class	E class
F class	G class	H class	I class
J class	K¹ class	K² class	L class
M class	O class	P class	Mallet
Q class	R class	S class	T class
WWII	Sentinel	WD class